Tag Archives: death
Ali Through the Eyes of My Father
Ali Through the Eyes of My Father
By: Brandon Bernica
Never is it any different. Every time my dad and I watch dusty old tapes of Muhammed Ali’s greatest fights together, he’s always at a loss for words. With each graceful combination Ali throws, my dad can barely muster a “look at that” or a short-lived “whoooaaaa!”. One glance in his direction and you’ll find him as engaged as if he was ringside. After certain fights, he chokes back tears, gripped by the talent, flare, and heart that encapsulated “The Greatest”.
If you know my father, you know that he’s never star-struck. He’s swapped stories with Joe Torre, chatted hoops with Carmelo Anthony, and attended fundraisers with Pete Carroll. Whether you’re a global superstar or the woman working multiple jobs to support her family, my dad meets you with the same warm handshake. But with Ali, he cracks. Admiration radiates from his being every time he reminisces about the man Muhammed was.
I always wondered at what kind of person this fighter must be to leave such an impression upon my father. We all are familiar with the ungodly footwork, the blazing hand speed, and the signature moments inside the ring. We recite his famous quotes like scripture. Everyone grasps his legacy, but I wanted to know why Ali touched my father so personally. After all, there remain many athletes with that talent and charisma mixture – albeit not at the level of Ali. Why this boxer?
My father spent much of his childhood in South Africa during the height of Apartheid. South Africa was divided between the native African population and the collection of white settlers that moved into the region known as Afrikaners. Being a white kid in this unsettling environment must have been a huge challenge for my father. Remnants of that racial unrest are chilling. My dad tells me stories of African boys being bullied at bus stops for the color of their skin. A small silver bell hangs above my parents’ mantle, a bell my dad found in South Africa that was used to call black servants of Afrikaner households. It’s a stark reminder of that country’s prejudicial past.
When Ali came to Africa in the ‘70’s to fight George Foreman, he was already an established celebrity. My father and grandfather would even drive hours to search for one bar that screened Ali’s fights on television. It was clear: a continent oppressed by social injustice for decades found a countercultural figurehead. Miles and seas away, Muhammed Ali loudly attacked the segregated institutions of America that mirrored those dominating South Africa. Chants of “Ali Bomaye” – “Ali, kill him” became the rallying cry for the downtrodden worldwide, centered around one boisterous young man unafraid to speak his mind.
Watching that Ali-Foreman fight, it’s hard for me not to draw parallels with that era’s social current. Foreman had his moments working Ali’s body like a brand new heavy bag, as Ali countered on the ropes. Round by round, however, the undefeated Foreman looked more and more weary. Ali grabbed the opportunity, knocked Foreman out, and raised his hands to the jubilation of a massive Zaire crowd. One could only imagine the hope that each Ali combination brought to Africa. He just took down “the man” in spite of the doubts and fears he faced before the fight, some even coming from family members. It was courage that prevailed in that ring, and it would be courage that would draw the continent out of its discriminatory practices.
My father had every reason to hate Ali. Growing up white in a racially-charged society, rooting for someone that defied white privilege was likely an outsider opinion in my dad’s African community. Perhaps some might have even considered him a traitor for cheering on a black man. When Ali sacrificed 3 years of his prime to dodge the army draft, my dad must have been conflicted once more. My grandfather served in the Marines, sacrificing two university degrees to serve his compulsory mandate. Having a war veteran as your own father could understandably sway you from respecting Ali’s perspective. Yet regardless of whether or not my dad agreed with his stance (I’ve never asked), I know he respected his bravery in taking a stand for something he believed in.
When I look deeper into whom “The Greatest” really was, he was a trailblazer. He shattered the fickle boundaries of culture instead of hiding behind the excuse of fame. What other confidence-overdosed fighter would spend his downtime showing children magic tricks? How daring must it have been for a man to stand up for religious freedom in the public eye, knowing the possible outcry from being so open on the topic?
The mystique of Ali really was that he held no mystique. He unified so many people because he embodied a plethora of their characteristics. Working-class citizens appreciated his will and work ethic. Elitists respected his hustle. Boxing purists praised his athleticism and God-given abilities. Everyone connected with his range of emotions – confidence, anger, joy – though it always felt like he personified these feelings with added gusto.
Whether he realizes it or not, the sources of my father’s passion for Ali reside in the commonalities between the two men. My dad was the one boy that would stand up for those scorned students at the South African bus stops. He’s playful and entertaining. He stands boldly in his beliefs, but he also listens and cares for the people he encounters. Every cop-out was presented to him to despise Ali, and yet he only drew closer to him. Reflecting on the man my father is gives me insight into who Ali truly was, and vice versa. Neither was (is) perfect; both are nonetheless inspiring.
I wish my father would have met the prime Muhammed Ali as a child. They would have laughed, argued, and maybe even tried a few punches out on each other. I’m sure many around the world share the same sentiment, and I know
Ali would have met each and every one of them if it was possible. But as this historic icon passes from this life, I know my father is still content. Coming from the world they shared at one small point in time, they understand one thing: the legacy left behind is greater than the tragedy in this moment.
More Columns
Muhammad Ali: A Prizefighter Who Changed History
Muhammad Ali: A Prizefighter Who Changed History
By Ivan G. Goldman
Moving with a special grace that any lightweight would envy, Muhammad Ali was probably the greatest heavyweight who ever put on the gloves, but it’s always a judgment call when you try to rate fighters from different eras.
What can’t be argued is this: he was one of the great figures of the 20th century. Ali not only changed our understanding of history, he changed history. By the time he died he was known as a wise and beloved hero around the world.
When he won the title in 1964 under his birth name of Cassius Clay and immediately proclaimed both his new name and loyalty to the black separatist Nation of Islam, he was considered hostile and dangerous by much of white America. Over the years he changed that perception not by compromising, but by persevering and staying true to his principles. He learned along the way, and we learned with him. He became our teacher.
Ali traveled a long, tough road after reaching the summit of boxing at age 22. He suffered years of rejection from the sport he’d mastered and many more years of physical impairment from Parkinson’s disease, not to mention crushing blows from Sonny Liston and Ken Norton, hellish body shots from George Foreman, and shattering hooks from the great Joe Frazier.
Ali wasn’t just a celebrity. The man could fight. The Greatest was a force of nature who defied the rules of physics and human anatomy.
Like all of us, Ali was imperfect and sometimes confused, but step by step he transformed himself into a deserving icon. There were many reasons to love him. In addition to charisma, tremendous talent, and quick wit, he had a genuine liking for people – all kinds of people, and the kindness in his spirit shined through and remained a part of him even in those last years, when his infirmity made everyday life a struggle.
When Ali refused the draft in 1967 and was quickly convicted and sentenced to five years in federal prison, he didn’t get much help from his mentor Elijah Muhammad. Muhammad encouraged him to stay out of the military but didn’t tell him how he could earn a living during the three and ½ years he was appealing his sentence and banned from the sport, separated from his title not by another prizefighter but by the stroke of a pen and a press release.
Stripped of his passport, he was locked inside the borders of a country that wouldn’t let him fight. Among the few sticking up for him was ABC sportscaster Howard Cosell, another man who broke boundaries.
Among Ali’s enemies were plenty of other fighters, particularly Frazier, who couldn’t understand why Ali was so crudely insulting to him even after Frazier had given him financial support during Ali’s forced layoff from the sport.
Frazier had a point. Back in the days of closed circuit TV, fighters signed for a specific sum. Ali had no need to build the gate but did so anyway by belittling and mocking Frazier. Liston, Foreman, and others got the same treatment, but it didn’t get under their skin the way it did Frazier’s.
Young Ali, after capturing the light heavyweight Gold Medal at the 1960 Olympics, decided he liked the way wrestlers marketed themselves as personalities. As he climbed the pro heavyweight ladder he did the same, but did it better, eventually adding serious political and social commentary. This was taboo in the world of sport. The world didn’t know what to make of him.
He’d been emotionally wounded growing up in Jim Crow Louisville, where African-Americans were segregated in almost every way and had limited opportunities. When he gained a forum for his opinions, he made them known.
Originally classified 1Y and ineligible for immediate conscription, Ali was reclassified 1A as the Johnson Administration began running out of flesh to sacrifice to its mistakes in Vietnam.
Had he served, it’s possible he’d have been steered into non-combat status giving boxing exhibitions for the troops, as Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis did during World War II. Ali, however, refused to make a deal. Famously saying he had no quarrel with the Viet Cong, he did object to his country making him a second-class citizen because of the color of his skin.
There were still plenty of World War II and Korean War veterans around and lots of families – including black families — that had lost loved ones in those wars and in Vietnam. Most of them failed to see things Ali’s way.
Ali’s long layoff took place during what would have been his prime. Few fans got to see the best of him. In a more perfect world he’d have competed during those years and shaved years off the long end of his career when punches did more damage to his aging brain and he was less capable of avoiding them.
It was a terrible irony that this man so physically gifted was brought so low by infirmities that he couldn’t eat his meals without assistance and that the Parkinson’s was undoubtedly caused by the sport he loved – a sport that didn’t always love him back.
After Ali was readmitted to prizefighting and became a positive national figure, he was a prized guest on late-night talk shows. This lasted until the disease became apparent. The hosts sympathized with him, but he was bad TV, making audiences uncomfortable.
Now he rests the final rest, Muhammad Ali, American original.
Ivan G. Goldman’s 5th novel The Debtor Class is a ‘gripping …triumphant read,’ says Publishers Weekly. A future cult classic with ‘howlingly funny dialogue,’ says Booklist. Available from Permanent Press wherever fine books are sold. Goldman is a New York Times best-selling author.
More Columns
Muhammad Ali- One Of A Kind
Muhammad Ali – One Of A Kind
By: Oz Ozkaya
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can’t hit what their eyes don’t see” – A quote from one of the world’s most famous sportsman, Muhammad Ali. “I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and got into bed before the room was dark.”- A quote from the one of the world’s most famous sportsman, Muhammad Ali. “If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it – then I can achieve it.” – AGAIN another brilliant poetic line from Muhammad Ali. The guy was practically a modern day, African-American, William Shakespeare.
Today we say goodbye to, arguably, the greatest boxer that has ever lived. He had the skill, passion, determination, finesse, likability, humour, cheekiness and sometimes even belligerence. Ali was a legend well before his death.
After being crowned “Sportsman of the Century” by Sports Illustrated and “Sports Personality of the Century” by the BBC, ‘The Greatest’ was notorious for his trash talking, pre and post fight-nights especially. His verbal gift was just as heralded as his in-ring abilities and many have come out today and spoke of the inspiration Ali had on them.
To name a few; Frank Bruno simply added – “The man… #MuhummadAli #TheGreatest #BoxingLegend” – with an old picture of Bruno jokingly giving Ali a right hand. Another former World Heavyweight champion, Lennon Lewis gave his tribute: “A giant among men, Ali displayed a greatness in talent, courage & conviction, that most of us will [N]EVER be able to truly comprehend. #RIPAli”. Barry McGuigan, former World Featherweight Champion and Irish boxing icon also gave a fitting tribute: “Today we lost the Greatest Sportsman that’s ever lived #RIPMuhammadAli”.
Some people today, who are old enough to remember, will be thinking back to the day the 22-year-old Ali conquered Sonny Liston in what was, at the time, a remarkable victory and upset. Others, an almost decade later, will be thinking of the famous ‘Fight Of The Century’ in New York, NY as Ali lost on a unanimous decision, in was the first of three epic showdowns, with Joe Frazier. And some of us will be thinking about the night that Ali managed to turn over, at the age of 36, young whiz kid Leon Spinks after Ali had previously lost the title some 7 months earlier in what was an almost de-ja-vu of the scenario with him and Sonny Liston 13 years earlier.
The thing with Ali is, though, in addition to having to write an article like this, I could be here all day writing and talking about all the famous quotes, memories, good deeds, triumphs, and of course, all the tributes from all the people that had loved and adored him through his rise to prominence and thereafter. It really is one of those famous sporting deaths, the kind that we all should just stop and go: “Wow, what a showman, performer, fighter, boxer, activist, and inspiration that man really was”.
Kanye West once referred to himself as the “The No1 rock star on the planet”, and he might just well be able to have that title now because the actual biggest No1 rock star, Muhammad Ali, A.KA Cassius Clay, has forever left our earthly stage.
More Columns
Muhammad Ali Dies
Muhammad Ali Dies
By: Sean Crose
The Greatest is no more. Muhammad Ali, the most famous boxer, if not the most famous athlete, of all time, has passed away at 74 years of age. “After a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease,” Ali’s spokesman, Bob Gunnell, told NBC News on Friday night, “Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74. The three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer died this evening.”
Thus ends the story of a giant of the modern age, a kid from Louisville, Kentucky who went on to become heavyweight champion on the world and a social icon. Ali will unquestionably be long remembered for his humanitarian and civil rights activities, but it will be his time in the ring that Ali will be most remembered for.
A heavyweight who moved like a man several divisions lower, Ali truly captured the public’s imagination with his agility, a slippery dancer’s approach that, coupled with some serious punching power, made the man as unique a talent as the fight world had heretofore seen.
Yet Ali’s way with words were nearly equal to his ring savvy. Here was the best of all trash talkers, a man who could play a charming rogue while slicing the opposition with his tongue. Ali knew the value of getting in an opponent’s head and played his verbal card to the hilt.
In a sense, he had to. For Ali faced opposition unseen in the heavyweight division before or since his era (with the possibility of the 1990s). Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ken Norton and Ernie Shavers were just a few of the men Ali met and bested during his illustrious career.
After winning a Gold Medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics, Ali went on to beat then-champion Liston in 1964. He repeated the feat, via stunning knockout, in a 1965 rematch. Ali was not always lauded as an iconic figure, however. Aside from converting to the Islamic faith and changing his name from Cassius Clay, Ali was known as an outspoken civil rights activist and opponent of the Vietnam War.
Indeed, Ali’s refusal to join the military caused him to lose his heavyweight crown and quite possibly his prime years. Not to be kept down, he finally returned to the ring to rule the first half of the 1970s. Although loses to Frazier, Norton and Leon Spinks were unquestionably tough to swallow, subsequent victories made his success all the sweeter.
After regaining the title from George Foreman in 1974, a full decade after he had first won it, Ali went on to lose and again regain the title in 1978. Indeed, his rematch victory against Leon Spinks, who had won the title from Ali months earlier, was the last great ring achievement Ali would have. A few years later, the world would see a disastrous loss at the hands of former sparring partner Larry Holmes and later still news would come news of Ali being afflicted with Parkinson’s Disease.
Yet as his body gave out, Ali went from being a controversial figure to a universally lauded icon, one who certainly showed courage against an opponent he couldn’t beat. His death yesterday will undoubtedly resonate worldwide – and rightfully so.
For there will never be another like him.
More Columns
Muhammad Ali In Hospital As Reports Of Grave Condition Abound
Muhammad Ali In Hospital As Reports Of Grave Condition Abound
By: Sean Crose
The Greatest is in the hospital. That much is certain. Indeed, Muhammad Ali, who for years has suffered from Parkinson’s Disease, has been hospitalized for respiratory issues. Although rumors of the former heavyweight champion’s eminent demise are emerging online, nothing can be confirmed or denied as of this writing – other than the fact there is cause for concern among Ali’s loved ones and fans. While there’s little doubt that Ali’s health has declined progressively over the years, the news of the man’s hospitalization has been major news. And for good reason, for – honestly – Ali may not only be the most famous boxer in history, but the most famous athlete, as well.
Still, rumor can quickly be taken as fact where the famous are concerned. Therefore, it’s advisable to simply stick to the facts as they are known at the moment:
•· Ali is reportedly being treated in a hospital around Phoenix for respiratory issues
•· According to the AP, Ali’s spokesman, Bob Gunnel, originally claimed that Ali’s condition was “fair,” and that the hospital stay would be brief.
•· However, unknown sources have told the AP Ali’s condition is of a grave nature
•· Communicating with the AP on Friday, Gunnel declared there were no further developments to pass along
•· Still, English tabloid The Mirror reported Friday that Ali is on life support and that his family is gathering
•· Several outlets also reported Friday that Ali’s respiratory issues are being aggravated by Parkinson’s.
Ali shot to fame in the early 1960s as Cassius Clay. He won the heavyweight title by beating the frightening Sonny Liston, who quit on his stool, and then won their rematch the follow year via a stunning – and controversial – first round knockout. By that time Clay had converted to Islam and had changed his name to Muhammad Ali.
Controversial to begin with, Ali solidified his reputation as either a rogue or a hero (depending on one’s opinion) by refusing – on ethical grounds – to enter the military. This decision cost Ali his title and possibly his prime. Upon his return to the ring, however, the man grew in fame and stature, battling such formidable opposition as George Foreman and arch foe Joe Frazier, and recapturing the heavyweight crown not once, but twice.
By the 80s, Ali had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and his slow decline was in progress. Yet he was also now universally recognized and respected as an iconic athlete, personality and civil rights activist. Although few If any would call the man perfect, his reputation had grown to the point where he was now endeared rather than loathed. His battle with Parkinson’s, which he went on to publicly wage for decades, further garnered Ali admiration, both at home and abroad.
Boxing Insider will continue to update this story.
